Yekaterina Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)

Yekaterina Feodorovna (Yekaterina Feodorovna Romanova; 6 June [O.S. 25 May] 1872) was Empress of Winia as the spouse of Rosaline I—the last ruler of the Aushizia Dynasty—their marriage which occurred on 26 November 1894, marked the beginning of a new age. Originally Princess Alix II of Hesse and by Rhine by birth, she was given the name and patronymic Yekaterina Feodorovna when she converted and was received into the Winian Orthodox Church. Her parents-in-law (Empress Yekaterina Feodorovna/Matilda of the United Kingdom and Emperor Nicole III) were murdered by Avalonian anarchists, alongside Rosaline`s older sisters and brothers; the attack on the Winian Imperial Family caused an outrage and a huge fallout even among the Avalonian people. She was the identical twin sister of Russian Empress, Alexandra Feodorovna—Yekaterina was widely considered during the time of World War I and World War II to be a calming force in her new homeland of Winia—her strong and devote stance on entering the Winia Empire into both World Wars, which perfectly aligned with the views many of her new countrymen only made her popularity rise even higher—despite being of Germanic blood herself, the reigning Empress despised her Germanic homeland and her uncle even further. In complementary history, she is commonly called Empress Yekaterina Feodorovna the Wise or Empress Yekaterina Feodorovna the Great due to being one of the greatest ruling empresses the Winia Empire has ever seen.

A favorite grandniece of Emperor Frederick III of the German Empire, Yekaterina was, like her granduncle, she was one of the most famous royal carriers of the laryngeal cancer; though said disease was erased from her bloodline after a special operation was preformed by several doctors to remove it from her body at a young age. Her identical twin sister (Alix/Alexandra Feodorovna) suffered from a different disease known as hemophilia, and was a carrier of the disease as well.

Yekaterina is the sister of Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven (wife of Prince Louis of Battenberg) and Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Russia (wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia), and most famously Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas II), mother of Grand Duchesses Alice, Louisa, Beatrix, and Wilhelm, maternal grandaunt of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (the last Viceroy of India). She became the Dowager Empress of Winia on 10 October 1900.

Early life
Yekaterina was born on 6 June 1872 at 5:00 am at the New Palace in Darmstadt as Princess Alix Emma Katrina Wilhelm Helene Luise Beatrix of Hesse and by Rhine, a Grand Duchy then part of the German Empire. She was the sixth child and fourth daughter among the eight children of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his first wife, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the second daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, Prince Consort. The identical twin sister of Alexandra Feodorovna, the two were stated to look alright though Yekaterina was far more poised even as an child; she rarely-if-ever cried and was noted to be rather unusual.

Alix was baptized on 1 July 1872 (her parents' tenth wedding anniversary) alongside her identical twin sister in the Protestant Lutheran Church and given the names of her mother, two of her fourth cousins, and one of her great-uncle, some of which were transliterated into German. Her godparents were the Prince and Princess of Wales (her maternal uncle and aunt), Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (her maternal aunt), the Duchess of Cambridge (her great-grandaunt), the Tsesarevich and Tsesarevna of Russia (her identical twin sister`s future parents-in-law), and Princess Anna of Prussia. Her mother gave her the nickname of "Belladonna", due to her deadly disposition, a name later adopted by the rest of her family. Her British relatives nicknamed her as "Annabel", to distinguish her from her aunt Alexandra, Princess of Wales, who was known within the family as Alix. Alix's II older brother Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine ("Frittie") suffered from hemophilia and died in May 1873 after a fall, when Alix was about one year old. To distinguish her from her identical twin sister, she wore her hair tied up in a complex bun. Of her siblings, Alix II was closest to Princess Marie ("May"), who was two years younger and her own identical twin sister Alix ("Allie"); they were noted as the "Girls" within the family.

During the year of 1878, diphtheria swept through the House of Hesse; Alix (her identical twin sister), her three sisters, her brother Ernst ("Ernie"), and their father fell ill. Elisabeth ("Ella"), Alix's older sister, was visiting their paternal grandmother, and escaped the outbreak. Alix II, was visiting their maternal grandmother, and also escaped the outbreak. The children`s mother tended to her entire family herself, instead of having nurses and doctors taking care of them. Their mother later fell ill and died on 14 December 1878, when both Alix and Alix II were six years old. This was the 17th anniversary of Alice's own father's death. Their youngest sibling, Marie, also died in the diphtheria outbreak with the rest of the children surviving. After the funeral, the Princess locked herself in her room and cried buckets-upon-buckets of tears, much to the dismay of her family. Her childhood was as described in her books, "as filled with laughter, kindness, and warmth from my parents. After that it was like a black void had come in our life. It consumed everything happy, anything that had warmth was gone."

Alix soon grew apart from her identical twin sister, growing to become a compassionate and welcoming force in their home; she became a surrogate mother to her younger siblings and her older siblings as well, growing to replace the hole in their hearts when their mother (Alice) died. Though she was not as close to Queen Victoria as her other siblings, to try and spare herself the heartache when the Queen died, she still viewed her as a loving grandmother even if Alix could become cold and unfeeling in her presence. When she was betrothed to Rosaline, Alix assured her family that "despite marrying Rosaline, I will always love you." When Queen Victoria died in 1901, Alix was heartbroken and cried for hours-on-end; heavily concerning her spouse and the Winia Empire`s citizens who were calmed by her presence.

Proposed matches
Alix although she wanted to marry somebody, and become a parent resisted any attempt to force her into marriage; her strong will and sense of purpose attracted many possible spouses, such as Prince Ludo of Finland (the younger brother of the reigning King of Finland), Emperor Rosaline I (the reigning Emperor of the Empire of Winia), Grand Duke Victor Alexandrovich of Russia (the youngest son of the reigning Emperor and Empress of Russia), and Prince Wilhelm of Dagmar (the youngest son of the reigning Emperor and Empress of Dagmar). Against the social standards of the times, Alix had her personal secretary invite them to Balmoral Castle with the permission of the Queen who agreed. In 1884, the foreign Princes agreed. Victor and Ludo were enamored by her beauty, and fell in love with her. Rosaline was less impressed, though she grew interested in Alix`s love for books, with Prince Wilhelm declaring his intention to marry her. She politely rejected Victor and Ludo`s proposals, becoming extremely hesitant on refusing Prince Wilhelm`s proposal fearing that he would start crying which never happened. The Emperor who had not been expecting her to refuse the other three Princes` proposals, expressed his slight interest in her. In response, Alix, broke down into laughter as she didn`t expect an answer like that. Rosaline was enamored by her beauty and proposed to her, she accepted and the other three Princes clapped for the engagement.

Engagement
The news of Alix`s engagement to Rosaline I sparked much excitement in the Empire, a single state-sanctioned engagement picture of their reigning Emperor and their future Empress circulated throughout the Empire in the form of reprinted pictures in newspapers. In 1885, they met again for the second time since the beginning of their engagement in 1884. In her diary Rosaline called Alix "my darling, my love, and the woman I shall marry" and declared "despite my seemingly indifference towards marriage, I love Alix more than money, jewels or gold." She gave Alix a simple but tasteful diamond tiara cornet as a sign of her affection, and they scratched their names into a small hand-sized cube of polished rose-pink quartz.

In January 1890, Alix visited Rosaline (her future spouse) in Winia. She and Rosaline made several public appearances together much to the excitement of cheering crowds, hosted parties for the general public and enjoyed watching small children play; her reception by the Empire`s people stunned her older siblings who were not expecting such a excited reception for Alix. Rosaline later wrote in his diary: "Before my feelings were muddled, now I know what I want. To rule alongside my true love, Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, my mother`s name, Yekaterina Feodorovna, I shall bestow upon her."

Alix II`s sister Alice and her husband Sergei were enthusiastically in favor of the match between Rosaline and Alix. Rosaline I even wrote a informal letter to Queen Victoria declaring that Alix II (her granddaughter) would be heavily protected in the Empire. Various supporters of the marriage including the Imperial Family of Dagmar (excluding the Empress herself), and the Royal Family of Chanta (excluding the Queen and King) even publicly spoke out on their congratulations for Alix and Rosaline`s engagement.

Rosaline and Alix were nine cousins through their eighth grandparent, Empress Victoria of Winia, and they were tenth cousins once removed through Grand Duchess Alexandrina of Hesse and by Rhine, who was Alix's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother and Rosaline`s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. Rosaline`s mother, Empress Yekaterina Feodorovna (Matilda of the United Kingdom), was going to be Alix`s godmother before her death.

Queen Victoria opposed the match to Rosaline. She personally liked Rosaline, but she disliked Winia and and the courtiers who assisted the Emperor and worried that Alix would not be safe in Winia. Empress Alexandrina of Dagmar, a closely related cousin of Queen Victoria opposed the marriage voicing the same concerns that Queen Victoria had, along with the Queen and King of Chanta; despite their oppositions the betrothal went on unhindered by anybody. She later wrote "I worry for Alix. She cares so deeply and soon, that caring nature will leave her to struggle when another takes advantage of her unrequited kindness, given without demands or reprimands."

Many of the Emperor`s low-ranking relatives (such as Marquess Zelda, Earl Miriam, and Lord Megan) were vehemently anti-German and did not want Alix as an adoptive mother. Megan told her brother Dagmar of Winia that Alix was from a small duchy in the German Empire and didn`t possess the necessary charm to keep the people of the Winia Empire together. Zelda favored Princess Hélène, the tall, dark-haired daughter of Philippe, Comte de Paris, pretender to the throne of France, while Miriam favored Grand Duchess Alexandrina Feodorovna (youngest sister of Emperor Alexander and the favorite sister-in-law to Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia), with Megan and her younger brother Dagmar favoring Princess Gabriella of Chanta. Hélène also resisted this match, as she was Roman Catholic and her father refused to allow her to convert to Winian Orthodoxy. Alexandrina despised the Empire of Winia, and despite having not been married, refused to even considering meeting Rosaline. Gabriella resisted the match like Hélène (both of the princesses being Roman-Catholic) with their fathers refusing to allow them to convert to Winian Orthodoxy.